Sunday, February 18, 2007

Akeelah and the Bee

James Reasoner reviewed an inspirational sports movie on his blog, so I told him about this one. Hey, if they show the national spelling bee on ESPN, spelling's a sport, right? And for sure the movie follows the diagram of a lot of sports movies.

Akeelah's a student in South L.A. She has the ability to spell just about anything and to be a fine student, but she hides her talent because she doesn't want the other kids to tease her. Then she wins the school's first spelling bee, and things start to change for her. She has a chance to be the national champ, but she's the underdog, competing against the kids from Beverly Hills in the next contest.

There are problems at home, too. And her coach is a guy who appears rude and arrogant. Will Akeela beat the odds and become the national spelling champ? You know I'm not going to tell. Just watch the movie. It has a fine cast, and Keke Plamer's especially good as Akeelah. The story's going to make you feel good because it's one of those that shows the world not the way it is but the way we'd all like for it to be. Could this movie ever happen? As Jake Barnes says at the end of The Sun Also Rises, "Isn't it pretty to think so." check it out.